Chapter 9: Telekhine Trouble

My lungs were burning. My fall slowed. I was drenched. I began floating upwards. I wasn't dead not yet.

I pushed through the water. My head broke through into complete blackness, I could see though I knew it was dark though. I was in a cave. In a small deep pool. Grey stalactites dangled dangerously low from the cave ceiling. A rocky shore lay just ahead of me. Rocks and boulders were piled up in organized piles and places.

The broken, bleeding, dead body of the first to fall lay floating absently on the black water. His bones were broken in a million places and many had ripped through the skin. He'd broken the water for us so when we landed we wouldn't die. Hopefully my father went easy on him.

I turned to my friends. Kastor was helping Atlanta swim somewhere, but they were in total darkness. Zane was on my left putting all his energy into trying to float. The soldiers Kastor had dragged in were lost and their leader was struggling to stay afloat with his heavy armour. The other men were all paddling around clueless.

I had to help these guys.

"Everyone!" I called, "Come to my voice. We need to stick together. I can see land."

"There is none!" one guy yelled.

"He is young he has better eyes," another said.

"He's a child of Hades," Kastor panted. There were a couple of gasps.

"Yeah, so I can see in the dark. So come to me." Zane was instantly at my side. Some men doubted my words or had really bad ears and swam away. Kastor and Atlanta made their way over. Trojan general guy had escaped his armour and was also swimming towards me.

I lead them to shore and everyone dropped onto the rock.

"We live!" one of the remaining two random prisoners cried.

"Praise Zeus!" the other exclaimed. I coughed.

"And Hades!" he added quickly. I was the only one standing - then again, I was the only one seeing. Atlanta was clutching her leg and whimpering.

I stared at the daunting tunnel ahead. There was no way visible way through it. I sat down on the ground and watched. If telekhines were down here there was no way they wouldn't notice us soon.

Footsteps clonked against the ground. I felt everyone take a deep breath in as firelight oozed around an unseen corner.

"I don't hear any splashing," a rough voice said, "If they forgot again I'm going to destroy those Trojans."

"The Greeks are working on that," another voice said.

"If they hand us another batch of dying prisoners..."

"Shush, I smell something." Something sniffed loudly.

"Something powerful," the other remarked.

"Reminds me of Master Kronos."

"Wait... I smell a disturbance. Mortals. Demigods, four or so."

"Well today's looking brighter already. I do think we should keep the demigods here for ourselves to eat. Nice and slow. That'll teach their parents."

I pulled Zane to his feet and dragged him towards the silhouettes.

"What are you doing you idiot?" he whispered.

"You can tame a hydra," I kept my voice low; "This shouldn't be a challenge for you."

"That was luck!" he insisted, "I won't be able to do it again!"

"You won't be able to breathe again if you don't try!" He looked at his feet. He sighed.

"Kay, I'll go talk to them."

"What?"

"That's what I did last time. That's what you want right?"

"Uh, yeah. Go ahead."

He strode out into the firelight. I'd moved the other sacrifices behind a pile of rocks. Zane approached the telekhines. He bowed gently towards them.

"Good day," he greeted. The telekhines stared. One dropped the torch on his foot.

"Ow!" he yelped.

"Good day to you also master," the other said, bowing as he spoke.

"Do you have a forge down here?" Zane asked.

"Yes Master only the finest in the land," one replied.

"Would I perhaps be able to see it?"

"No!" one stormed.

"Yes!" the other yelled.

"But our food!"

"It can wait. We have never had so much as a word from our old master. Our brethren would be delighted to meet such an honourable person."

"Uh," Zane sounded really confused, "The pleasure is mine."

"Follow!" the one who'd dropped the torch ordered.

I felt the light dwindle away. Zane was gone. Delicate fingers gripped my hand.

"Nico," Atlanta started, "You and Kastor should go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Why?" I asked.

"I can tell he's going to do something insane."

"Well that'd be a great idea," Kastor said, "If I could see!"

"I'll go alone," I decided.

"No you won't!" Atlanta ordered.

"Yes I will." Atlanta grunted with disapproval. I pulled my hand away from her and walked down the tunnel.

"Nico!" Atlanta squealed.

I followed the one route tunnel down a while. There were no forks, no passages branching out, just one direct route. Loud drunken laughter erupted from a cave wall. I put my ear to it. Heck there were telekhines there, but how had they gotten in. There was a disruption in the earth somewhere behind me and I ran towards it. A passageway was opening. I stopped behind a fallen rock to see a blazing inferno within the single opening in the wall. The wall slowly rose until it let its heat spill out.

Drenched in sweat, I got my first proper look at a telekhine. Like Percy had once said it was like someone had tried to mutate a seal with a Doberman and a person. They had feet that were half-foot half-flipper and a face that had the pointed appearance of a Doberman, yet the features of a human. It had overly long human arms that were dripping with water even though it'd just been in the inferno room. It also had a seal's tail where it would normally have a butt, which only made it ten times uglier.

It was pulling a wheelbarrow, overloaded with a bronze coloured liquid. It was clearly much heavier than it appeared because the telekhine was grunting as it pulled the wheelbarrow along. It walked straight towards the opposite cave wall that was now rumbling and descending into the ground as the previously opened passage closed.

I did what instinct told me to. I sprinted at the open passage, punched the telekhine in the face, tipped his over heavy wheelbarrow on top of him and hid behind a stone bench in the passage while I listened to the telekhine struggle hopelessly against the crushing weight of the melted metal in his wheelbarrow.

This room had a bunch of moulds everywhere and random furnaces throughout the room. Clearly these guys had gone for the industrial-factory look and covered the walls in rusted metal and put random tables covered in unnecessary cogs and bits of metal everywhere. They'd built stairs that lead to higher surveying bridges across the room. Telekhines were everywhere hammering metals into shape pushing wheelbarrows around and doing other stuff you'd do in a forge.

I saw Zane talking to three telekhines on one of the bridges, two of which looked thoroughly annoyed. Finally one pushed the un-annoyed guy off the bridge and landed as a crumpled pile of mush on the ground. No one noticed. Zane had the most polite look on his face and kept dismissing the telekhines when they bowed to him.

I looked around; telekhines were absorbed in their metal-working. It was pretty easy to run to the closest table and grab a celestial bronze sword. Celestial bronze was so different to Stygian iron. I couldn't feel the power of death and loss running through my new sword. I didn't like the blade, but I had nothing else to fight with.

I climbed up the steps to the bridge Zane was on. I stayed out of sight and harm's way. No one noticed me, well not at first anyway. I crept behind the telekhine behind Zane that was doing the least talking. I sliced him in half and he disintegrated on impact. His friend screamed and jumped off the bridge with Zane. They started running. I flung myself off the bridge just in time to notice, the telekhines had started hurling chunks off flaming metal and a bunch of other weapons I would've never considered throwing.

I hit the ground with only a burn on my left wrist. I winced and sprinted in the direction Zane and his new friend had disappeared from. I could hear things whistle past behind me and things being engulfed in flames. I suddenly wished I was Percy or Leo - a little fire resistance would've really helped. I saw Zane turn a corner before emerging from around it again. He was covered in gold monster dust.

He ran up to me an angry expression on his face. His eyes were glowing again and soon his whole form was growing brighter.

"STOP!" he screamed. The telekhines stopped. "You date hurt my apprentice!"

"Apprentice?" I asked him.

"Shut up," he muttered.

"Master," one telekhine spoke bowing towards Zane, "Your apprentice has killed one of our friends. It is only fair we kill him." Telekhines nodded in agreement.

"You will not hurt him," Zane ordered, heat beginning to radiate from him. A telekhine winced and darted away.

"He is a demigod!" another telekhine argued, "Your father would want him destroyed! Unless you have turned your back on your father, you would want him destroyed."

"Who is your father?" I whispered urgently. Zane stopped getting brighter and glowered at me.

"Leave that subject alone!" he ordered. I punched him in the face.

"We need to know!" I yelled. Zane held a hand to his nose and slid back.

"He hurt our master!" a telekhine screamed, its eyes wide with hatred "Destroy him!"

I ran forwards and then slid across the metal floor. Everything missed that round. I jumped up and sprinted up to a bridge. A fiery spear hit the bridge and fire spread across the ropes suspending the bridge in the air. I flung myself off the bridge and got hit by ten or so red-hot bits of metal on the way down. I felt a piece cut my cheek. I hit the ground and accidentally smacked my hand on the ground. I yelled and continued trying to avoid the millions of things being thrown at me. Something heavy smashed into my back and I was forced to the floor. A telekhine stood on top of me laughing as he carved something into my back with a sword. I screamed and struggled until the telekhine stopped carving on me. He laughed ferociously.

"Nico!" Kastor's voice yelled, "Get off him freak!" I heard something metallic scrape across a table and sure enough, a pile of gold dust replaced the telekhine that had been on my back. Kastor started muttering something about weapons not hurting them, but he soon got over it and started killing telekhines.

I got to my feet in time to see my other two surviving prisoners run in and start killing telekhines. Atlanta and her brother hadn't entered. A wave of despair washed over me. I desperately hoped nothing had happened.

Kastor had found another sword and was leading our telekhine destroying ranks. I caught up to him and began slaughtering telekhines effortlessly. Kastor was putting up a crazy good fight. Percy'll kill me for this, but Kastor was fighting better than I'd ever seen Percy fight and Kastor was a starving prisoner.

I turned another telekhine to dust.

"From behind!" one of my sacrifice buddies screamed. Sure enough tens times more telekhines poured the passageway. Kastor motioned for me to stay where I was before he jumped away and ran to meet the oncoming wave of enemies. I held them off pretty well, but there were only thirty or so remaining in my area.

I raised my sword to slice another telekhine in half. Kastor started screaming in pain. I whipped around to see Kastor screaming on the ground half engulfed in flame. He was writhing violently. I roared and sliced through ten telekhines and ran to Kastor's side. His body was red and his face was blackened. His nose and lips were burning away and suddenly Kastor stopped moving. Telekhines erupted in laughter. I looked at my fallen friend and charged at the army of telekhines.

"No!" Zane yelled. He landed in front of me and gripped my arm. He roared and telekhines froze. My mind blurred. Our other sacrifice friends froze in mid battle. The fires that lit the room went out.

"What the Hades?" I asked.

"Come on!" Zane yelled pulling me along, "Do not let go of my arm," he instructed. I nodded as we ran out into the pitch black cave.

Zane led me through the cave. He took me to the spot everyone was supposed to be waiting at. Only Atlanta and the Trojan dude were there. They were frozen. They looked like exquisitely painted stone statues. Atlanta was frozen in a mid-limp towards the forges. Trojan dude was pulling her arm.

"What's going on?" I asked Zane.

"I don't know," he lied.

"You're the worst liar," I told him. He let go of my arm and then I found my arm being held by Zane again. Atlanta had appeared at his side with a pained expression on her face. Trojan dude was now on his knees ten meters away from his position an instant ago.

"Zane what in Hades is happening?" I asked.

"Just don't let go of me and walk," Zane ordered.

"Just tell me what's going on!"

"I don't know!" Zane stormed, marching forward.

We walked through the caves at a slow pace. On impact with the water from the fall Atlanta had hurt her leg and was limping along. Zane didn't utter a word and his eyes were still glowing. He forged ahead with Atlanta clinging to his arm. Finally she said something, "Where are the others?"

"They're fine," Zane lied hastily.

"Kastor," I began, "Got burned to death by a telekhine. He saved my life though."

"He's dead?" her voice was cracking.

"There was nothing I could do."

"He's dead," Atlanta repeated sniffing. Her sobs began echoing in the silence.

"Great," Zane muttered. I wanted to punch the guy in the face. He wouldn't answer my questions, he wouldn't stick around to save anyone's butt except his own and mine and he didn't respect the fact that when someone close to you dies you usually cry.

"He was trying to help you guys right," Atlanta whimpered, "When he died."

"Yeah, he did," I replied. We walked in silence for a while, only Atlanta's sniffs and sobs were heard.

"You're the son of Hades," Atlanta said.

"Yeah, yes I am," I said.

"You could make sure Kastor goes somewhere nice in the Underworld right?" I didn't like that question. If I tried to interfere with someone's judgement Dad'd have a fit. I didn't want to depress Atlanta anymore so I lied, "Yeah. I'll make sure he does." She sniffed and whispered a word of thanks.

The silence that followed only gave me more time to stew in my confused emotions. My anger towards Zane swelled, my sympathies for Atlanta were exploding, my guilt for the death of Kastor was weighing me down. My mind kept flashing to his burning broken body howling with pain.

My mind went off on a tangent and I found myself thinking about Bianca. I remember standing with Percy, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson and seeing her shimmering image before me. I'd been too confused too ask her all I'd wanted answered, but eventually slowly those answers had come to me. I missed her. I wished she could've been here to lead this mission instead of me, she was always better at those sorts of things. She'd know how to calm everyone down lower the tension - I didn't.

Zane stopped suddenly. There was a steep rough pathway ahead of us. The faint glow of the moon crept through the passage.

"You can let go now," Zane instructed. I released his arm, being eternally grateful that Savanna, Justin and Kyle weren't there to point out the fact I'd been holding a guy's arm. Screeches began echoing through the cave. We began our climb. Atlanta grunted with every step and I had to help her get over the rockier parts, but otherwise the climb seemed like nothing.

When the ground flattened out again, there was a metal archway in the wall. It was a small archway; I had to get on my knees to get through it. I got on my knees and shuffled through. Zane followed and then I pulled Atlanta through.

We found ourselves in a forest. It wasn't dense, but it wasn't just a couple of random trees. Needles of moonlight pierced through leaves and found their way to the ground. Millions of stars dotted the sky. There were so many more than there were back at camp. The grass was soothing against my bare feet. The archway we'd come through was an opening in a hill. A metal door was attached to it. Zane closed it and it locked into place.

As Atlanta looked around her tear-stained face lit up with hope, she even managed a smile. She sat herself on the ground and started rubbing the grass.

"We're safe!" she announced throwing a fistful of grass into the air. She was laughing hard, seeming to forget about her leg. She turned to me with a beaming white smile on her face.

"The Greek's base camp is just over there," she pointed slightly to our left. I felt a smile crawl up my face.

"I don't know about you," Zane muttered, "But I would love to spend a night away from a bunch of people trying to kill each other."

"OK," Atlanta agreed, "I know a river up north a bit. There's a clearing in the trees. It's a perfect place to spend the night." None of us gave any signs of disagreement, so she limped away happily with us at her heels.